NL Central

NL West

Now Commenting On:

Donaldson goes deep twice after forgetting jersey

Email

Print

By AJ Cassavell
/
MLB.com |

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Josh Donaldson might want to get used to the No. 98 A's jersey he wore on Friday.

After the A's third baseman forgot to pack his regular No. 20 shirt and followed that up by hitting a pair of monstrous home runs against the Mariners, Oakland manager Bob Melvin kidded that he may have to force Donaldson to wear No. 98 permanently.

Donaldson wasn't so keen on that idea, but he's open to trying out the number again.

"I don't know if it was the number or not," Donaldson said with a sheepish grin following Friday's game, which was called after 3 1/2 innings because of rain. "But I might give it another shot."

The stats don't lie. While wearing No. 20, Donaldson is just 1-for-20 this spring. But in No. 98, he's 2-for-3 with the two homers and three RBIs.

After the game, Melvin was asked if he would fine Donaldson for the jersey mishap or shake his hand because of the offensive outburst.

"He hit homers," Melvin said, "so we'll shake his hand."

Surprisingly, Melvin didn't seem the least bit taken aback by Donaldson's gaffe. He said Donaldson hadn't forgotten his jersey before, but added, "there has been much worse."

"He needs some help -- we'll put it that way -- with some of the non-baseball stuff," a grinning Melvin said. "The legend grows. It's not a big surprise that he forgot his jersey, but he made a lot of use of No. 98."

Both of Donaldson's homers would have been long gone even if the wind wasn't blowing out as it was on Friday. On a day that saw six home runs between the two clubs, his pair stood out the most.

The first came a few feet shy of hitting the left-center field light pole that rests about three quarters of the way up the grass seating section at Peoria Sports Complex. The second bounced off the base of the scoreboard in left field, at the very top of the grass.

"The biggest thing for me is just getting comfortable in the box," Donaldson said. "The first few at-bats I had here, I just haven't, and today I felt pretty comfortable and got a couple good pitches to hit."

A's catcher John Jaso said Donaldson "looked like he was an A-ball guy brought up and swinging away." He added that if he had been told the story but not been given a name, he would've guessed it was Donaldson in a heartbeat.

The A's play Texas in Surprise on Saturday, and Donaldson doesn't plan on committing to any sort of change just yet.

"I just like the number 20," Donaldson said. "But 98 worked today, so we'll see."

AJ Cassavell is a reporter for MLB.com Follow him on Twitter @ajcassavell. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.